The
Prophecies of The Brahan SeerProphecies wholly or partly
fulfilled

HERE are
several additional predictions which have been wholly or partly fulfilled.
The day will come when the Mackenzies will lose all their possessions in
Lochalsh, after which it will fall into the hands of an Englishman, who
shall be distinguished by great liberality to his people, and lavish
expenditure of money. He will have one son and two daughters; and, after his
death, the property will revert to the Mathesons, its original possessors,
who will build a Castle on Druim-a-Dubh, at Balmacarra. The late Mr.
Lillingstone was an Englishman. He was truly distinguished for kindness and
liberality to his tenants, and he had a son and two daughters, although, we
are informed, he had been married for seventeen years before he had any
family. When he came into possession, old people thought they discerned the
fulfilment of a part of Kenneths prediction in his person, until it was
remarked that he had no family as foretold by the Seer. At last, a son and
two daughters were successively born to Mr. Lillingstone. After his death,
the son sold the whole of Lochalsh to Alexander Matheson, M.P. for the
Counties of Ross and Cromarty, and, so far, the prediction has been
realized. A castle has been built at Duncraig, a considerable distance from
the spot predicted by the Seer; but if Kenneth is to he depended upon, a
castle will yet be built by one of the Mathesons an Druim-a-Dubh, at
Balmacarra. Had this prophecy been got up after the event, the reputation of
the Seer would certainly not have been staked on the erection of another
castle in the remote future, when the Mathesons already possess such a
magnificent mansion at Duncraig.

During a recent visit to the Island of Raasay we received a peculiar
prediction regarding the Macleods from an old man there, over eighty years
of age, who remembered seven proprietors of Raasay, and who sorely lamented
the fulfilment of the prophecy, and the decline of the good old stock,
entirely in consequence of their own folly and extravagance. Since then, we
had the prediction repeated by a Kintail man in identical terms; and as it
is hardly translatable, we shall give it in the original vernacular: - Dar
a thig MacDhomhnuill Duibh bàn; MacShimidh ceann-dearg; Sisealach claon
ruadh; MacCoinnich mor bodhar; agus Mac-Gille-challum cama-chasach, iar-ogha
Ian bhig à Ruiga, se sin a Mac-Gille­challum is miosa thainig na thig; cha
bhi mi ann ri linn, s chan fhearr leam air a bhith. (When we shall have a
fair-haired Lochiel; a red-haired Lovat; a squint­eyed,
fair-haired Chisholm; a big deaf Mackenzie; and a bow-crooked-legged
MacGille-challum, who shall be the great-grand-son of John Beg, or little
John, of Ruiga: that Mac-Gille-challum will be the worst that ever came or
ever will come; I shall not be in existence in his day, and I have no desire
that I should.) Ruiga is the name of a place in Skye. When the last Macleod
of Raasay was born, an old sage in the district called upon his neighbour,
and told him, with an expression of great sorrow, that Mac-Gille-challum of
Raasay now had an heir, and his birth was a certain forerunner of the
extinction of his house. Such an event as the birth of an heir had been
hitherto, in this as in all other Highland families, universally considered
an occasion for great rejoicing among the retainers. The other old man was
amazed, and asked the sage what he meant by such unusual and disloyal
remarks. Oh! answered he, do you not know that this is the grand-grandson
of John Beg of Ruiga whom Coinneach Odhar predicted would be the worst of
his race. And so he undoubtedly proved himself to be, for he lost for ever
the ancient inheritance of his house, and acted generally in such a manner
as to fully justify the Seers prediction; and what is still more
remarkable, the Highland lairds, with the peculiar characteristics and
malformations foretold by Kenneth, preceded or were the contemporaries of
the last MacGille-challum of Raasay.

Here is a
prediction of the downfall of another distinguished Highland family - Clan
Ranald of the Isles. The day will come when the old wife with the footless
stocking (cailleach nam mogan) will drive the Lady of Clan Ranald from
Nunton House, in Benbecula. We are informed that this was fulfilled when
the Macdonalds took the farm of Nunton, locally known as  Baile na
Caillich. Old Mrs. Macdonald was in the habit of wearing these primitive
articles of dress, and was generally known in the district as Cailleach nam
Mogan. Clan Ranald and his lady, like many more of our Highland chiefs,
ultimately went to the wall, and the descendants of the old wife with the
footless stocking occupied, and, for anything we know, still occupy the
ancient residence of the long-distinguished race of Clan Ranald of the
Isles.

In the
beginning of the seventeenth century, and during the Seers lifetime, there
lived in Kintail an old man - Duncan Macrae - who was curious to know by
what means he should end his days. He applied to a local female Seer, who
informed him that he would die by the sword (le bàs a chlaidheamh). This
appeared so improbable in the case of such an old man, who had taken part in
so many bloody frays and invariably escaped unhurt, that the matter was
referred to the greater authority, Coinneach Odhar. He corroborated the
woman, but still the matter was almost universally discredited in the
district, and by none more so than by old Duncan himself. However, years
after, conviction was forced upon them; for, according to the Genealogy of
the Macraes, written by the Rev. John Macrae, minister of Dingwall, who
died in 1704 - Duncan being an old man in the year 1654, when General Monk,
afterwards Duke of Albemarle, came to Kintail, retired from his house in
Glenshiel to the hills, where, being found by some of the soldiers who had
straggled from the body of the army in hopes of plunder, and who, speaking
to him roughly, in a language he did not understand, he, like Old Orimanus,
drew his sword, &c., and was immediately killed by them. This was all the
blood that General Monk or his soldiers, amounting to 1500 men, had drawn,
and all the opposition he met with, although the Earl of Middleton and Sir
George Monro were within a few miles of them, and advertised of their
coming, Seaforth having been sent by Middleton to the Isle of Skye and parts
adjoining, to treat with the Macdonalds and the Macleods, &c.

Regarding the
evictions which would take place in the Parish of Petty, he said, The day
will come, and it is not far off, when farm-steadings will be so few and far
between, that the crow of a cock shall not be heard from the one steading to
the other. This prediction has certainly been fulfilled, for, in the days
of the Seer there were no fewer than sixteen tenants on the farm of
Morayston alone.

On the south
of the bay, at Petty, is an immense stone, of at least eight tons weight,
which formerly marked the boundary between the estates of Culloden and
Moray. On the 20th of February, 1799, it was mysteriously removed from its
former position, and carried about 26o yards into the sea. It is supposed by
some that this was brought about by an earthquake; others think that the
stone was carried off by the action of ice, combined with the influence of a
tremendous hurricane, which blew from the shore, during that fearful and
stormy night. It was currently reported, and pretty generally believed at
the time, that his Satanic Majesty had a finger in this work. Be that as it
may, there is no doubt whatever that the Brahan Seer predicted that the day
will come when the Stone of Petty, huge though it is, and high and dry upon
the land as it appears to people this day, will be suddenly found as far
advanced into the sea as it now lies away from it inland, and no one will
see it removed, or be able to account for its sudden and marvellous
transportation.

The Seer was
at one time in the Culloden district on some important business. While
passing over what is now so well known as the Battlefield of Culloden, he
exclaimed, Oh! Drummossie, thy bleak moor shall, ere many generations have
passed away, be stained with the best blood of the Highlands. Glad am I that
I will not see that day, for it will be a fearful period; heads will be
lopped off by the score, and no mercy will be shown or quarter given on
either side. It is perhaps unnecessary to point out how literally this
prophecy has been fulfilled on the occasion of the last battle fought on
British soil. We have received several other versions of it from different
parts of the country, almost all in identical terms.

The time will
come when whisky or dram shops will be so plentiful that one may be met with
almost at the head of every plough furrow. (Thig an latha s am bi tighean-oil
cho lionmhor s nach mor nach fhaicear tigh-osda aig ceann gach claise.)
Policemen will become so numerous in every town that they may be met with
at the corner of every street. Travelling merchants [pedlars and hawkers]
will be so plentiful that a person can scarcely walk a mile on the public
highway without meeting one of them.

The following
is from A Summer in Skye, by the late Alex. Smith, author of A Life
Drama. Describing Dunvegan Castle and its surroundings, he says: ­Dun
Kenneths prophecy has come to pass - In the days of Norman, son of the
third Norman, there will be a noise in the doors of the people, and wailing
in the house of the widow; and Macleod will not have so many gentlemen of
his name as will row a five-oared boat round the Maidens. If the last
trumpet had been sounded at the end of the French war, no one but a Macleod
would have risen out of the churchyard of Dunvegan. If you want to see a
chief (of the Macleods) now-a-days you must go to London for him. There can
be no question as to these having been fulfilled to the letter.

The day will
come when a fox will rear a litter of cubs on the hearthstone of Castle
Downie. The day will come when a fox, white as snow, will be killed on the
west coast of Sutherlandshire. The day will come when a wild deer will be
caught alive at Chanonry Point, in the Black Isle. All these things have
come to pass.

With respect
to the clearances in Lewis, he said - Many a long waste feannag (rig, once
arable) will yet be seen between Uig of the Mountains and Ness of the
Plains. That this prediction has been fulfilled to the letter, no one
acquainted with the country will deny.

The following
would appear to have been made solely on account of the unlikelihood of the
occurrence: - A Lochalsh woman shall weep over the grave of a Frenchman in
the burying-place of Lochalsh. People imagined they could discern in this
an allusion to some battle on the West Coast, in which French troops would
be engaged; but there was an occurrence which gave it a very different
interpretation. A native of Lochalsh married a French footman, who died,
shortly after this event, and was interred in the burying-ground of Lochalsh,
thus leaving his widow to mourn over his grave. This may appear a
commonplace matter enough, but it must be remembered that a Frenchman in
Lochalsh, and especially a Frenchman whom a Highland woman would mourn over,
in Coinneachs day, was a very different phenomenon to what it is in our
days of railways, tourists, and steamboats.

The Seer also
predicted the formation of a railway through the Muir of Ord, handed down in
the following stanza.

When there shall be two churches in the Parish of Ferrintosh,
And a hand with two thumbs in I-Stiana,
Two bridges at Sguideal (Conon) of the gormandizers,
And a man with two navels at Dunean,
Soldiers will come from Carn a Chlarsair" (Tarradale)
On a chariot without horse or bridle,
Which will leave the Blar-dubh (Muir of Ord) a wilderness,
Spilling blood with many knives;
And the raven shall drink his three fulls
Of the blood of the Gael from the Stone of Fionn.

We already
have two churches in the Parish of Ferrintosh, two bridges at Conon, and we
are told by an eye-witness, that there is actually at this very time a man
with two thumbs on each hand in I-Stiana, in the Black Isle, and a man in
the neighbourhood of Dunean who has two navels. The chariot without horse
or bridle is undoubtedly the iron horse. What particular event the latter
part of the prediction refers to, it is impossible to say; but if we are to
have any faith in the Seer, something serious is looming not very remotely
in the future.

Mr. Macintyre
supplies the following, which is clearly a fragment of the one above given:
- Coinneach Odhar foresaw the formation of a railway through the Muir of Ord
which he said would be a sign of calamitous times. The prophecy regarding
this is handed down to us in the following form: - I would not like to live
when a black bridleless horse shall pass through the Muir of Ord.
Fearchair a Ghunna (Farquhar of the Gun, an idiotic simpleton who lived
during the latter part of his extraordinary life on the Muir of Tarradale)
seems, in his, own quaint way, to have entered into the spirit of this
prophecy, when he compared the train, as it first passed through the
district, to the funeral of Old Nick. Tradition gives another version,
viz.: - that after four successive dry summers, a fiery chariot shall pass
through the Blar Dubh, which has been very literally fulfilled. Coinneach
Odhar was not the only person that had a view beforehand of this railway
line, for it is commonly reported that a man residing in the neighbourhood
of Beauly, gifted with second-sight, had a vision of the train, moving along
in all its headlong speed, when he was on his way home one dark autumn
night, several years before the question of forming a railway in those parts
was mooted.

Here are two
other Gaelic stanzas having undoubted reference to the Mackenzies of
Rosehaugh: -

The heir (or chief) of the Mackenzies will take
A
white
rook out of the wood,
And will take a wife from a music house (dancing saloon),
With his people against him!
And the heir will be great
In deeds and as an orator,
When the Pope in Rome
Will be thrown off his throne.

Over opposite
Creag-a-Chow
Will dwell a diminutive lean tailor,
Also Foolish James as the laird,
And Wise James as a measurer,
Who will ride without a bridle
The wild colt of his choice;
But foolish pride without sense
Will put in the place of the seed of the deer the seed of the goat;
And the beautiful Black Isle will fall
Under the management of the fishermen of Avoch.

We have not learnt that any of the Rosehaugh Mackenzies has
yet taken a white
rook from the woods; nor have we heard anything suggested as
to what this part of the prophecy may refer to. We are, however, credibly
informed that one of the late Mackenzies of Rosehaugh had taken his wife
from a music saloon in one of our southern cities, and that his people were
very much against him for so doing. One of them, Sir George, no doubt was
great in deeds and as an orator, but we fail to discover any connection
between the time in which he lived and the time when the Pope in Rome will
be thrown off his throne. We were unable in the first edition to suggest
the meaning of the first six lines of the last stanza, but Mr. Maclennan
supplies us with the following explanation: - I have been hearing these
lines discussed since I was a boy, and being a native of Rosehaugh, I took a
special interest in everything concerning it. The first two lines I was
repeatedly informed, referred to a pious man who lived on the estate of
Bennetsfield, opposite Craigiehow, when Seumas Gorach (Foolish James
referred to in the third line), was proprietor of Rosehaugh. This godly man,
who was contemporary with Foolish James, often warned him of his end, and
predicted his fate if he did not mend his ways; and as he thus cut
his bounds for him, he is supposed to be the diminutive lean
tailor. He is still in life. We all knew Foolish James. The fourth line
refers to James Maclaren, who lived at Rosehaugh most of the time during
which the last two Mackenzies ruled over it, and only died two years ago. He
was an odd character, but a very straightforward man; often rebuked Foolish
James for the reckless and fearless manner in which he rode about, and set
bounds before the foolish laird, which he was not allowed to pass.
Maclaren was, on that account, believed to be the measurer referred to by
the Seer. The fifth and sixth lines are supposed to apply to the wife
fancied by Mackenzie in a dancing saloon,who was always considered the
wild colt, at whose instigation he rode so recklessly and foolishly. We
wish the realizations of our prophets predictions in this case were a
little less fanciful.

Those in the
seventh and eighth lines have been most literally fulfilled, for there can
be no doubt that foolish pride without sense has brought about what the
Seer predicted; and secured, for the present at least, the seed of the goat
where the seed of the deer used to rule. The deer, and the deers horns, as
is well known, are the armorial bearings of the Mackenzies, - while the goat
is that of the, Fletchers, who now rule in Rosehaugh, on the ruins of its
once great and famous Cabair­feidh.

Part of the
beautiful Black Isle has already fallen under the management of the son of a
fisherman of Avoch; and who knows but other fishermen from that humble
village may yet amass sufficient wealth to buy the whole. The old
proprietors, we regret, are rapidly making way with their foolish pride
without sense, for some one to purchase it.

We are informed that the
present proprietor of Rosehaugh is the son of an Avoch fisherman - the son
of a Mr. Jack, who followed that honourable avocation in this humble village
for many years; afterwards left the place and went to reside in Elgin, where
he commenced business as a small general dealer, or huckster; that some of
the boys - his sons - exhibited a peculiar smartness while in school; that
this was noticed by a lady relative of their mother, an aunt, of the name of
Fletcher, who encouraged and helped on the education of the boys, and who
took one or more of them to her own home, and brought them up; afterwards
they found their way south, and ultimately became successful merchants and
landed proprietors. [In corroboration of the main facts here stated, we
quote the following from Walfords County Families of the United Kingdom:
- FLETCHER, JAMES, Esq. of Rosehaugh, Ross-shire, son of the late Wm.
Jack, Esq., by Isabel, dau. of the late Charles Fletcher, Esq., and brother
of J. C Fletcher, Esq.; b. 18--; m, 1852, Frederica Mary, dau. of John
Stephen, Esq., niece of Sir Alfred Stephen, C.B., Chief Justice of New South
Wales, and widow of Alexander Hay, Esq., of the 58th Regt. . . . He
assumed the name of Fletcher in lieu of his patronymic on the death of his
mother in 1856.] These are facts of which we were entirely ignorant when
first writing down the stanzas already given. The verses were sent to us
from various quarters, and they have undoubtedly been floating about the
country for generations. So much for the Seers prophetic power in this
instance. Were we better acquainted with the history of the other families
referred to in the stanzas, it is probable that more light could be thrown
upon what they refer to than we are at present able to do.

While we are
dealing with the wonderful in connection with the House of Rosehaugh, it
may not be out of place to give a few instances of the somewhat
extraordinary experiences of the famous Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh
already referred to. He was one of the most distinguished members of the
Scottish Bar, was Lord-Advocate for Scotland in the reign of Charles the
Second, and was, indeed, a contemporary of the Brahan Seer. His Institutes
are still considered a standing authority by the legal profession: - On one
occasion, while at Rosehaugh, a poor widow from a neighbouring estate called
to consult him regarding her being repeatedly warned to remove from a small
croft which she held under a lease of several years; but as some time had
yet to run before its expiry, and being threatened with summary ejection
from the croft, she went to solicit his advice. Having examined the tenor of
the lease, Sir George informed her that it contained a flaw, which, in case
of opposition, would render her success exceedingly doubtful; and although
it was certainly an oppressive act to deprive her of her croft, he thought
her best plan was to submit. However, seeing the distressed state of mind in
which the poor woman was on, hearing his opinion, he desired her to call
upon him the following day, when he would consider her case more carefully.
His clerk, who always slept in the same room as his lordship, was not a
little surprised, about midnight, to discover him rising from his bed fast
asleep, lighting a candle which stood on his table, drawing in his chair,
and commencing to write very busily, as if he had been all the time wide
awake. The clerk saw how he was employed. but he never spoke a word, and,
when he had finished; he saw him place what he had written in his private
desk, locking it, extinguishing the candle, and then retiring to bed as if
nothing had happened. Next morning at breakfast, Sir George remarked that he
had had a very strange dream about the poor widows threatened ejectment,
which, he could now remember, and he had now no doubt of making out a clear
case in her favour. His clerk rose from the table, asked for the key of his
desk, and brought therefrom several pages of manuscript; and, as he handed
them to Sir George, enquired - Is that like your dream? On looking over it
for a few seconds, Sir George said, Dear me, this is singular; this is my
very dream! He was no less surprised when his clerk informed him of the
manner in which he had acted; and, sending for the widow, he told her what
steps to adopt to frustrate the efforts of her oppressors. Acting on the
counsel thus given, the poor widow was ultimately successful, and, with her
young family, was allowed to remain in possession of her wee bit croftie
without molestation.

Sir George
principally resided at this time in Edinburgh, and, before dinner,
invariably walked for half-an-hour. The place he selected for this was Leith
Walk, then almost a solitary place. One day, while taking his accustomed
exercise, he was met by a venerable-looking, grey-headed old gentleman, who
accosted him and, without introduction or apology, said - There is a very
important case to come off in London fourteen days hence, at which your
presence will be required. It is a case of heirship to a very extensive
estate in the neighbourhood of London, and a pretended claimant is doing his
utmost to disinherit the real heir, on the ground of his inability to
produce proper titles thereto. It is necessary that you be there on the day
mentioned; and in one of the attics of the mansion-house on the estate there
is an old oak chest with two bottoms; between these you will find the
necessary titles, written on parchment. Having given this information, the
old man disappeared, leaving Sir George quite bewildered; but the latter,
resuming his walk, soon recovered his previous equanimity, and thought
nothing further of the matter.

Next day,
while taking his walk in the same place, he was again met by the same old
gentleman, who earnestly urged him not to delay another day in repairing to
London, assuring him that he would be handsomely rewarded for his trouble;
but to this Sir George paid no particular attention. The third day he was
again met by the same hoary-headed sire, who energetically pleaded with him
not to lose a day in setting out, otherwise the case would be lost. His
singular deportment, and his anxiety that Sir George should be present at
the discussion of the case, in which he deemed so deeply interested, induced
Sir George to give in to his earnest importunities, and accordingly he
started next morning on horseback, arriving in London on the day preceding
that on which the case was to come on. In a few hours he was pacing in front
of the mansion-house described by the old man at Leith Walk, where he met
two gentlemen engaged in earnest conversation - one of the claimants to the
property, and a celebrated London barrister - to whom he immediately
introduced himself as the principa1 law-officer of the crown for Scotland.
The barrister, no doubt supposing that Sir George was coming to take the
bread out of his mouth, addressed him in a surly manner, and spoke
disrespectfully of his country; to which the latter replied, that, lame and
ignorant as his learned friend took the Scotch to be, yet in law, as well as
in other respects, they would effect what would defy him and all his London
clique. This disagreeable dialogue was put an end to by the other gentleman
- the claimant to the property - taking Sir George into the house. After
sitting and conversing for some minutes, Sir George expressed a wish to be
shown over the house. The drawing-room was hung all round with magnificent
pictures and drawings, which Sir George greatly admired; but there was one
which particularly attracted his attention; and after examining it very
minutely, he, with a surprised expression, inquired of his conductor whose
picture it was? and received answer - It is my great-great-grand­fathers.
My goodness! exclaimed Sir George, the very man who spoke to me three
times on three successive days in Leith Walk, and at whose urgent request I
came here! Sir George, at his own request, was then conducted to the
attics, in one of which there was a huge mass of old papers, which was
turned up and examined without discovering anything to assist them in
prosecuting the claim to the heirship of the property, However, as they were
about giving up the search, Sir George noticed an old trunk lying in a
corner, which, his companion told him, had lain there for many a year as
lumber, and contained nothing. The Leith Walk gentlemans information
recurring to Sir George, he gave the old moth-eaten chest a good hearty
kick, such as he could wish to have been received by his learned friend
the barrister, who spoke so disrespectfully of his country. The bottom flew
out of the trunk, with a quantity of chaff, among which the original titles
to the property were discovered. Next morning, Sir George entered the court
just as the case was about to be called and addressed the pretended
claimants counsel - Well, sir, what shall I offer you to abandon this
action? No sum, or any consideration whatever, would induce me to give it
up, answered his learned opponent. Well, sir, said Sir George, at the
same time pulling out his snuff-horn and taking a pinch, I will not even
hazard a pinch on it. The case was called. Sir George, in reply to the
claimants counsel, in an eloquent speech, addressed the bench; exposed most
effectually the means, which had been adopted to deprive his client of his
birthright; concluded by producing the titles found in the old chest; and
the case was at once decided in favour of his client. The decision being
announced, Sir George took the young heirs arm, and, bowing to his learned
friend the barrister, remarked, You see now what a Scotsman has done, and
let me tell you that I wish a countryman of mine anything but a London
barrister. Sir George immediately returned to Edinburgh, well paid for his
trouble; but he never again, in his favourite walk, encountered the old
grey-headed gentleman.

The following
two stanzas refer to the Mackenzies of Kilcoy and their property: -

When the girls of Kilcoy house cry out,
'The shell (cup) of our murderers is flowing over.'
A fox from Croy will come
Who shall be like a wolf among the people
During forty years and more,
And in his coat shall be many curses;
He shall then be thrown empty and sorrowful,
Like an old besom behind the door;
The large farmers will be like sportful birds,
And the lairds as poor as the sparrows -
There's a blessing in handsome honesty
And curses in the shedding of blood.

When the stern Castle of Kilcoy
Shall stand cold and empty,
And the jackdaws and the rooks
Are artfully flying past it,
A loathsome man shall then dwell
Beside it, indecent and filthy,
Who will not keep the vow of the marriage coif,
Listen neither to cleric nor friend;
But from Creag-a-Chow to Ferrintosh
The dirty fellow will be after every girl -
Ochan! Ochan!! woe's me,
The cunning dog will swallow up much land.

The history of
the Kilcoy family has been an unfortunate one in late years, and the second
and last lines of the first stanza clearly refer to a well-known tragic
incident in the recent history of this once highly-favoured and popular
Highland family.

Mr. Maclennan
applies them to an earlier event, and says: - The second and last line of
the first stanza refer to the following story - Towards the latter end of
the seventeenth century a large number of cattle, in the Black Isle, were
attacked with a strange malady, which invariably ended in madness and in
death. The disease was particularly destructive on the Kilcoy and Redcastle
estates, and the proprietors offered a large sum of money as a reward to any
who should find a remedy. An old warlock belonging to the parish agreed to
protect the cattle from the ravages of this unknown disease, for the sum
offered, if they provided him with a human sacrifice. To this ghastly
proposal the lairds agreed. A large barn at Parkton was, from its secluded
position, selected as a suitable place for the horrid crime, where a poor
friendless man, who lived at Linwood, close to the site of the present Free
Church manse, was requested, under some pretence, to appear on a certain
day. The unsuspecting creature obeyed the summons of his superiors; he was
instantly bound and disembowelled alive by the horrid wizard, who dried the
heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and reduced them to powder, of which he
ordered a little to be given to the diseased animals in water. Before the
unfortunate victim breathed his last, he ejaculated the following
imprecation: - Gum b ann nach tig an latha bhitheas teaghlach a Chaisteil
Ruaidh gun oinseach, na teaghlach Chulchallaidh gun amadan. (Let the day
never come when the family of Redcastle shall be without a female idiot, or
the family of Kilcoy without a fool.) It appears, not only that this wild
imprecation was to some extent realised, but also that the Brahan Seer,
years before, knew and predicted that it would be made, and that its prayer
would be ultimately granted.

Who the fox
from Croy is, we are at present unable to suggest; but taking the two
stanzas as they stand, it would be difficult to describe the position of the
family and the state of the castle, with our present knowledge of their
history, and in their present position, more faithfully than Coinneach Odhar
has done more than two centuries ago. What a faithful picture of the
respective positions of the great farmers and the lairds of the present day!
And what a contrast between their relative positions now and at the time
when the Seer predicted the change!

In the
appendix to the Life of the late Dr. Norman Macleod, by his brother, the
Rev. Donald Macleod, D.D., a series of autobiographical reminiscences are
given, which the famous Rev. Norman, the Doctors father, dictated in his
old age to one of his daughters. In the summer of 1799 he visited Dunvegan
Castle, the stronghold of the Macleods, in the Isle of Skye. Those of the
prophecies already given in verse are, undoubtedly, fragments of the long
rhythmical productions of Coinneach Odhar Fiosaiches prophecies regarding
most of our Highland families, to which the Rev. Norman refers, and of which
the prophecy given in his reminiscences is as follows: ­

One
circumstance took place at the Castle (Dunvegan) on this occasion which I
think worth recording, especially as I am the only person now living who can
attest the truth of it. There had been a traditionary prophecy, couched in
Gaelic verse, regarding the family of Macleod, which on this occasion,
received a most extraordinary fulfilment. This prophecy I have heard
repeated by several persons, and most deeply do I regret that I did not take
a copy of it when I could have got it. The worthy Mr. Campbell of Knock, in
Mull, had a very beautiful version of it, as also had my father, and so, I
think, had likewise Dr. Campbell of Killinver. Such prophecies were current
regarding almost all old families in the Highlands; the Argyll family were
of the number; and there is a prophecy regarding the Breadalbane family as
yet unfulfilled which I hope may remain so. The present Marquis of
Breadalbane is fully aware of it, as are many of the connections of the
family. Of the Macleod family, it was prophesied at least a hundred years
prior to the circumstance which I am about to relate.

In the
prophecy to which I am about to allude, it was foretold that when Norman,
the Third Norman (Tormad nan tri Tormaid) the son of the hard-boned
English lady (Mac na mnatha caoile cruaidhe Shassunaich) would perish by
an accidental death; that when the Maidensof Macleod (certain well-known
rocks on the coast of Macleods country) became the property of a Campbell;
when a fox had young ones in one of the turrets of the Castle, and
particularly when the Fairy enchanted banner should be for the last time
exhibited, then the glory of the Macleod family should depart; a great part
of the estate should be sold to others; so that a small curragh, a boat,
would carry all gentlemen of the name of Macleod across Loch Dunvegan; but
that in times far distant another John Breac should arise, who should redeem
those estates, and raise the power and honours of the house to a higher
pitch than ever. Such in general terms was the prophecy. And now as to the
curious coincidence of its fulfilment.

There was, at
that time, at Dunvegan, an English smith, with whom I became a favourite,
and who told me, in solemn secrecy, that the iron chest which contained the
fairy flagwas to be forced open next morning; that he had arranged with
Mr. Hector Macdonald Buchanan to be there with his tools for that purpose.

I was most
anxious to be present, and I asked permission to that effect of Mr. Buchanan
(Macleods man of business), who granted me leave on condition that I should
not inform anyone of the name of Macleod that such was intended, and should
keep it a profound secret from the chief. This I promised and most
faithfully acted on. Next morning we proceeded to the chamber in the East
Turret, where was the iron chest that contained the famous flag, about which
there is an interesting tradition.

With great
violence the smith tore open the lid of this iron chest; but, in doing so, a
key was found under part of the covering, which would have opened the chest,
had it been found in time. There was an inner case, in which was found the
flag, enclosed in a wooden box of strongly-scented wood. The flag consisted
of a square piece of very rich silk, with crosses wrought with gold thread,
and several elf-spots stitched with great care on different parts of it.

On this
occasion, the melancholy news of the death of the young and promising heir
of Macleod reached the Castle. Norman, the third Norman, was a lieutenant
of H.M.S., the Queen Charlotte,which was blown up at sea, and he and the
rest perished. At the same time, the rocks called Macleods Maidenswere
sold, in the course of that very week, to Angus Campbell of Ensay, and they
are still in possession of his grandson. A fox in possession of a Lieutenant
Maclean, residing in the West Turret of the Castle, had young ones, which I
handled, and thus all that was said in the prophecy alluded to was so far
fulfilled, although I am glad the family of my chief still enjoy their
ancestral possessions, and the worst part of the prophecy accordingly
remains unverified. I merely state the facts of the case as they occurred,
without expressing any opinion whatever as to the nature of these
traditionary legends with which they were connected.

The estates
are still, we are glad to say, in possession of the ancient family of
Macleod, and the present chief is rapidly improving the prospects of his
house. The probabilities are therefore at present against our prophet. The
hold of the Macleods on their estates is getting stronger instead of weaker,
and the John Breac who is to be the future deliverer has not only not yet
appeared, but the undesirable position of affairs requiring his services is
yet, we hope, in the distant future.

The Seer
predicted that when the big-thumbed Sheriff-Officer and the blind [man] of
the twenty-four fingers shall be together in Barra, Macneil of Barra may be
making ready for the flitting (Nuair a bhitheas maor nan ordagan mora agus
dall nan ceithir-meoraibh-fichead comhla ann am Barraidh, faodaidh MacNeill
Bharraidh bhi deanamh deiseil na h-imirich.) This prediction, which was
known in Barra for generations, has been most literally fulfilled. On a
certain occasion, the blind of the twenty-four fingers, so called from
having six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, left Benbecula
on a tour, to collect alms in South Uist. Being successful there, he decided
upon visiting Barra before returning home. Arriving at the Ferry - the
isthmus which separates South Uist from Barra, - he met Maor nan Ordagan
mora, and they crossed the kyle in the same boat. It was afterwards found
that the officer was actually on his wey to serve a summons of ejectment on
the laird of Barra; and poor Macneil not only had to make ready for, but had
indeed to make the flitting. The man who had acted as guide to the blind on
the occasion is, we are informed, still living and in excellent health,
though considerably over eighty years of age.

The following
is said to have been fulfilled by the conduct of the Duke of Cumberland at
and after the battle of Culloden. The Seer was, on one occasion, passing
Millburn, on his way from Inverness to Petty, and noticing the old mill,
which was a very primitive building, thatched with divots, he said: - The
day will come when thy wheel shall be turned for three successive days by
water red with human blood; for on the banks of thy lade a fierce battle
shall be fought, at which much blood shall be spilt. Some say that this is
as yet unfulfilled; and it has been suggested that the battle may yet be
fought in connection with the new Barracks now building at the Hut of
Health.

Coinneach also
prophesied remarkable things regarding the Mackenzies of Fairburn and
Fairburn Tower. The day will come when the Mackenzies of Fairburn shall
have their entire possessions, and that branch of the clan shall disappear
almost to a man from the face of the earth. Their Castle shall become
uninhabited, desolate, and forsaken, and a cow shall give birth to a calf in
the uppermost chamber in Fairburn Tower. The first part of this prophecy
has only too literally come to pass; and within the memory of hundreds now
living, and who knew Coinneachs prophecy years before it was fulfilled, the
latter part - that referring to the cow calving in the uppermost chamber -
has also been undoubtedly realised. We are personally acquainted with people
whose veracity is beyond question, who knew the prophecy, and who actually
took the trouble at the time to go all the way from Inverness to see the
cow-mother and her offspring in the Tower, before they were taken down. Mr.
Maclennan supplies the following version: - Coinneach said, addressing a
large concourse of people - Strange as it may appear to all those who may
hear me this day, yet what I am about to tell you is true and will come to
pass at the appointed time. The day will come when a cow shall give birth to
a calf in the uppermost chamber (seomar uachdarach) of Fairburn Castle. The
child now unborn will see it.

When the Seer
uttered this prediction, the Castle of Fairburn was in the possession of,
and occupied by, a very rich and powerful chieftain, to whom homage was paid
by many of the neighbouring lairds. Its halls rang loud with sounds of music
and of mirth, and happiness reigned within its portals. On its winding stone
stairs trod and passed carelessly to and fro pages and liveried servants in
their wigs and golden trimmings. Nothing in the world was more unlikely to
happen, to all appearance, than what the Seer predicted, and Coinneach was
universally ridiculed for having given utterance to what was apparently so
nonsensical; but this abuse and ridicule the Seer bore with the patient
self-satisfied air of one who was fully convinced of the truth of what he
uttered. Years passed by, but no sign of the fulfilment of the prophecy. The
Seer, the Laird of Fairburn, and the whole of that generation were gathered
to their fathers, and still no signs of the curious prediction being
realised. The Laird of Fairburns immediate successors also followed their
predecessors, and the Seer, to all appearance, was fast losing his
reputation as a prophet. The tower was latterly left uninhabited, and it
soon fell into a dilapidated state of repair - its doors decayed and fell
away from their hinges, one by one, until at last there was no door on the
main stair from the floor to the roof. Some years after, and not long ago,
the Fairburn tenant-farmer stored away some straw in the uppermost chamber
of the tower; in the process, some of the straw dropped, and was left strewn
on the staircase. One of his cows on a certain day chanced to find her way
to the main door of the tower, and finding it open, began to pick up the
straw scattered along the stair. The animal proceeded thus, till she had
actually arrived at the uppermost chamber, whence, being heavy in calf, she
was unable to descend. She was consequently left in the tower until she gave
birth to a fine healthy calf. They were allowed to remain there for several
days, where many went to see them, after which the cow and her progeny were
brought down; and Coinneach Odhars prophecy was thus fulfilled to the
letter.

The day will
come when the Lewsmen shall go forth with their hosts to battle, but they
will be turned back by the jaw-bone of an animal smaller than an ass, was a
prediction accounted ridiculous and quite incomprehensible until it was
fulfilled in a remarkable but very simple manner. Seaforth and the leading
men of the Clan, as is well known, were out in the 15 and 19, and had
their estates forfeited; and it was only a few years before the 45 that
their lands were again restored to Seaforth, and to Mackenzie, 11th Baron of
Hilton. The Rev. Colin Mackenzie, a brother of Hilton, minister of Fodderty
and Laird of Glack, in Aberdeenshire, was the first in the neighbourhood of
Brahan who received information of Prince Charlie's landing in 1745.
Seaforth had still a warm feeling for the Prince. His reverend friend,
though a thorough Jacobite himself, was an intimate friend of Lord President
Forbes, with whom he kept up a regular correspondence. He decided, no doubt
mainly through his influence, to remain neutral himself, and fearing that
his friend of Brahan might be led to join the Prince, he instantly, on
receipt of the news, started for Brahan Castle. Although it was very late at
night when he received the information, he crossed Knockfarrel, entered
Seaforths bedroom by the window - for he had already gone to rest for the
night ­and without awakening his lady, informed him of the landing of
Charles. They decided upon getting out of the way, and both immediately
disappeared. Seaforth was well known to have had previous correspondence
with the Prince, and to have sent private orders to the Lews to have his men
there in readiness; and Fodderty impressed upon him the prudence of getting
out of sight altogether in the meantime. They started through the mountains
in the direction of Poolewe, and some time afterwards, when there together
in concealment near the shore, they saw two ships entering the bay, having
on board a large number of armed men, whom they at once recognised as
Seaforths followers from the Lews, raised and commanded by Captain Colin
Mackenzie, the great-grandfather of Major Thomas Mackenzie of the 78th
Highlanders. Lord Seaforth had just been making a repast of a sheeps head,
when he espied his retainers, and approaching the ships with the sheeps
jawbone in his hand, he waved it towards them, and ordered, them to return
to their homes at once, which command they obeyed by making at once for
Stornoway; and thus was fulfilled Coinneach Odhars apparently ludicrous
prediction, that the brave Lewsmen would be turned back from battle with the
jaw-bone of an animal smaller than an ass.

Mr. Maclennan
supplies us also with the following:- In the parish of Avoch is a well of
beautiful clear water, out of which the Brahan Seer, upon one occasion, took
a refreshing draught. So pleased was he with the water, that he looked at
his Blue Stone, and said - Whoever he be that drinketh of thy water
henceforth, if suffering from any disease, shall, by placing two pieces of
straw or wood on thy surface, ascertain whether he will recover or not. If
he is to recover, the straws will whirl round in opposite directions; if he
is to die soon, they will remain stationary. The writer (continues Mr.
Maclennan) knew people who went to the well and made the experiment. He was
himself once unwell, and supposed to be at the point of death; he got of the
water of the well, and he still lives. Whether it did him good or not, it is
impossible to say, but this he does know, that the water pleased him
uncommonly well.

With reference
to Lady Hill, in the same parish, the Seer said - Thy name has gone far and
wide; but though thy owners were brave on the field of battle, they never
decked thy brow. The day will come, however, when a white collar shall be
put upon thee. The child that is unborn shall see it, but I shall not. This
prediction has been fulfilled a few years ago, by the construction of a fine
drive right round the hill.

The Seer said,
speaking of Beauly - The day will come, however distant, when Cnoc na
Rathwill be in the centre of the village. It certainly would appear
incredible, and even absurd, to suggest such a thing in Coinneachs day, for
the village then stood at a place south of the present railway station,
called, in Gaelic, Bealaidh-Achadh, or the Broom field, quite a mile from
Cnoc na Rath. The prophecy has to some extent been fulfilled, for the last
erection at Beauly - the new public school - is within a few yards of the
Cnoc; and the increasing enterprise of the inhabitants is rapidly aiding,
and, indeed, will soon secure, the absolute realisation of the Seers
prediction. In connection with this prophecy we think that we have
discovered a Celtic origin for the term Beauly. It is generally supposed to
have been derived from the French word Beaulieu. The village being
originally at Bealaidh-Achadh, and so called when the present Beauly was
nowhere, what can be more natural than the supposition that the inhabitants
carried the original name of their original village along with them, and now
present us with the Gaelic Bealaidh, anglified into Beauly. This is not
such a fine theory as the French one, but it is more likely to be the true
one, and is more satisfactory to the student of Gaelic topography.

We have
several versions of the prophecy regarding the carrying away of the Stone
Bridge across the River Ness, which stood near the place where the present
Suspension Bridge stands. Mr. Macintyre supplies the following, and Mr.
Maclennans version is very much the same: - He foretold that the Ness
bridge would be swept away by a great flood, while crowded with people, and
while a man riding a white horse and a woman enciente were crossing it.
Either the prophets second-sight failed him on the occasion, or tradition
has not preserved the correct version of the prediction, for it is well
known that no human being was carried away by the bridge when it was swept
away by the extraordinary flood of 1849.

As a matter of
fact, there was no man riding a white horse on the bridge at the time, but a
man - Matthew Campbell - and a woman were crossing it, the arches tumbling
one by one at their heels as they flew across; but they managed to reach the
western shore in safety, just as the last arch was crumbling under their
feet. Campbell, who was behind, coming up to the woman, caught her in his
arms, and with a desperate bound cleared the crumbling structure.

The Seer also
foretold that before the latter prediction was fulfilled people shall pick
gooseberries from a bush growing on the stone ledge of one of the arches.
There are many now living who remember this gooseberry bush, and who have
seen it in bloom and blossom, and with fruit upon it. It grew on the south
side of the bridge, on the third or fourth pier, and near the iron grating
which supplied a dismal light to the dungeon which in those days was the
Inverness prison. Maclean, A Nonagenarian, writing forty years ago, says
nothing of the bush, but, while writing of the predicted fall of the bridge,
states, with regard to it, that an old tradition or prophecy is, that many
lives will be lost at its fall, and that this shall take place when there
are seven females on the bridge, in a state poetically described as that in
which ladies wish to be who love their lords. This was written, as will be
seen by comparing dates, several years before the bridge was carried away in
1849, showing unmistakably that the prophecy was not concocted after the
event.

The natural
arch, or Clach tholl,near Storehead in Assynt, will fall with a crash so
loud as to cause the laird of Leadmores cattle, twenty miles away, to break
their tethers. This was fulfilled in 1841, Leadmores cattle having one day
strayed from home to within a few hundred yards of the arch, when it fell
with such a crash as to send them home in a frantic fright, tearing
everything before them. Hugh Miller refers to this prediction, as also to
several others, in the work already alluded to - Scenes and Legends of the
North of Scotland, pp. 161, 162, 163.

About sixteen
years ago, there lived in the village of Baile Mhuilinn, in the West of
Sutherlandshire, an old ,woman of about 95 years of age, known as Baraball
nic Coinnich (Annabella Mackenzie). From her position, history, and
various personal peculiarities, it was universally believed in the district
that she was no other than the Baraball nic Coinnich of whom the Brahan
Seer predicted that she would die of the measles. She had, however, arrived
at such an advanced age, without any appearance or likelihood of her ever
having that disease, that the prophet was rapidly losing credit in the
district. About this time the measles had just gone the round of the place,
and had made considerable havoc among old and young; but when the district
was, so to speak, convalescent, the measles paid Baraball a visit, and
actually carried her away, when within a few years of five score, leaving no
doubt whatever in the minds of the people that she had died as foretold
centuries before by the famous Coinneach Odhar.

The Seer, one
day, pointing to the now celebrated Strathpeffer mineral we11s, said: -
Uninviting and disagreeable as it now is, with its thick crusted surface
and unpleasant smell, the day will come when it shall be under lock and key,
and crowds of pleasure and health seekers shall be seen thronging its
portals, in their eagerness to get a draught of its waters.

Regarding the
lend-grasping Urquharts of Cromarty he predicted that, extensive though
their possessions in the Black Isle now are, the day will come ­and it is
close at hand - when they will not own twenty acres in the district. This,
like many of his other predictions, literally came to pass, although nothing
could then have been more unlikely; for, at the time, the Urquharts
possessed the estates of Kinbeachie, Braelangwell, Newhall, and Monteagle,
but at this moment their only possession in the Black Isle is a small piece
of Braelangwell.

That the day
will come when fire and water shall run in streams through all the streets
and lanes of Inverness, was a prediction, the fulfilment of which was quite
incomprehensible, until the introduction of gas and water through pipes into
every corner of the town.

The day will
come when long strings of carriages without horses shall run between
Dingwall and Inverness, and more wonderful still, between Dingwall and the
Isle of Skye. It is hardly necessary to point out that this refers to the
railway carriages now running in those districts.

That a bald
black girl will be born at the back of the Church of Gairloch (Beirear
nighean mhaol dubh air cùl Eaglais Ghearrloch), has been fulfilled. During
one of the usual large gatherings at the Sacramental Communion a well-known
young woman was taken in labour, and before she could be removed she gave
birth to the nighean mhaol dubh, whose descendants are well known and
pointed out in the district to this day as the fulfilment of Coinneachs
prophecy.

That a white
cow will give birth to a calf in the garden behind Gairloch House, has
taken place within the memory of people still living; that, in Fowerdale, a
black hornless cow (Bo mhaol dubh) will give birth to a calf with two
heads, happened within our own recollection. These predictions were well
known to people before they came to pass.

The following
are evidently fragments regarding the Lovat Estates. He said:-

(A Claimant will come from the South
Like a bird from a bush;
He will grow like an herb;
He will spread like seed,
And set fire to Ardross*.) [*A place of that name near Beauly.]

Mhac Shimidh
ball-dubh, a dbfhagus an oighreachd gun an t-oighre dligheach. (Mac
Shimidh (Lovat), the blackspotted, who will leave the Estate without the
rightful heir.) An Sisealach claon ruadh, a dhfhagus an oighreachd gun an
t-oighre dligheach. (Chisholm, the squint-eyed, who will leave the estate
without the rightful heir.) An tighearna stòrach a dhfhagus oighreachd
Ghearrloch gun an t-oighre dligheach. (The buck-toothed laird who will
leave the estate of Gairloch without the rightful heir), are also fragments.

We do not know whether there has been any Lovat or Chisholm
with the peculiar personal characteristics mentioned by the Seer, and shall
be glad to receive information on the point;
[Since the above was in type, we came across the following in Andersons
History of the
Family of Fraser, p. 114: - Hugh, son of the 10th Lord Lovat, was born on
the 28th September, 1666. From a large black spot on his upper lip he was
familiarly called, Mac Shimidh Ball-dubh,
i.e.,
black-spotted Simpson or Lovat. Three chieftains were distinguished at this
time by similar deformities - (1) Mac Coinnich Glùn-dubh, ie., black-kneed
Mackenzie; (2) Macintoshich Claon,
i.e.,
squint-eyed MacKintosh; (3) Sisealach Càm, crooked or one-eyed
Chisholm.] as well as a fuller and more particular version of the
prophecy. We are aware, however, that Sir Hector Mackenzie of Gairloch was
buck-toothed, and that he was always known among his tenants in the west, as
An tighearna stòrach. We heard old people maintaining that Coinneach was
correct even in this instance, and that his prediction has been actually
fulfilled; but, at present, we abstain from going into that part of this
family history which would throw light on the subject. A gentleman is trying
to assert rights to the Lovat estates at the present moment.

Before
proceeding to give such of the prophecies regarding the family of Seaforth
as have been so literally fulfilled in the later annals of that once great
and powerful house - the history of the family being so intimately
interwoven with, and being itself really the fulfilment of the Seers
predictions - it may interest the reader to have a cursory glance at it from
the earliest period in which the family appears in history.

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